Representative Earl Blumenauer, the founder and cochair of the Congressional Bike Caucus -- explains why he’s been riding his bike to work for the past 15 years: "I have burned hundreds of thousands of calories ... I’ve never been stuck in traffic, I’ve never had to look for a parking place, and I’ve saved thousands of dollars. It’s kind of a win-win-win, burning calories instead of fossil fuel."

Also, Grist.org points out, when you park your bike at the White House, you don’t need to lock it. Bonus.

Bike Carrboro will host a fundraiser on Friday, April 15th at Johnny's from 5pm-10pm.Anyone excited about cycling and having a great time with friends is encouraged to attend! This energy-packed event will include live music from two local bands (one of which has our very own Ginger Guidry on lead vocals!), catered food, locally-produced baked goods, bike-blended smoothies, and a raffle for various prizes and certificates from local retailers.Proceeds from the event will go toward planning and holding cycling events throughout the Carrboro-Chapel Hill area that enhance the safety and appeal of cycling for all ages and abilities. We recently helped sponsor the Silver Level Bicycle Friendly City award ceremony and a Bike Safety Rodeo held at Carrboro Elementary. A $5 suggested donation earns you a bicycle pin and free raffle ticket! Additional raffle tickets may be purchased for $2 each. You could win a prize from one of several participating merchants, including Fleet Feet, Townsend-Bertram, Back Alley Bikes, the Clean Machine, Carrburitos, and more. For additional information about the fundraiser, or to volunteer, please contact Seth LaJeunesse at 919-357-6079.

An interesting study came out by the University Transit Research Center regarding the demographics of bike riders.

Politicians, and yes, riders ourselves, make loads of assumptions about who actually bikes. But the study helps clear up some of the misconceptions that exist. First off, no matter what "Stuff White People Like" says, biking appears to be moving towards ridership representing the demographics across the country.

From Grist.org

Additionally, Grist separated the income level of Americans into four equally sized "quartiles" - and found that "the lowest-earning quarter of Americans make nearly one-third of all bike trips." And, perhaps more interesting to note, biking is nearly equally distributed among the remaining three quartiles.

The author points out that "Humans hew to the 'normative' behaviors of their community. In places where bike lanes or wind turbines or B.R.T. systems are seen as an integral part of society, people tend not protest a new one; if they are not the norm, they will. Second, whatever feelings people have about abstract issues like the environment, in practice they react more passionately to immediate rewards and punishments (like a ready parking space) than distant consequences (like the threat of warming)."

The author encourages us to test ourselves...the example provided is when you're at a hotel that reminds you to re-use your towels to help the environment, do you? What other examples can you come up with - those where convenience and sustainability are at odds, and you tend to choose convenience?

Two fabulous young men, Stan Engelbrecht and Nic Grobler biked through South Africa and had conversations and photograph sessions with people who bike. Their experiences are being documented in a self-published book, Bicycle Portraits.